Originally posted on Joshua Lawrence LAzard: In a crowded television market with networks not just competing with traditional line-in cable programming but with the ever-increasingly might of streaming services that are offering original programming that network television shows will never air, a network-based TV show that gets renewed past one season is becoming the new high bar jump. One such show is “The Good Place” on NBC. I stumbled on the show in the midst of its first season trying to find something worth binge watching like most millennials my age. A full day of work deserves a certain level of vegging out; either cooked dinner, left overs or take out, a glass of wine and you look to see what’s on your home streaming device. For the uninitiated, the show centers around Kristen Bell who plays the tragicomic Eleanor Shellstrop, a morally bankrupt individual who works at a company who sells fake medicine to needy people, a who just died and arrives in The Good Place run by the seemingly benevolent Michael played by Ted…

Originally posted on The Collective Blog: If you didn’t watch the Superbowl (read: me), and you somehow missed the only trailer for the soon-to-be-released Solo: A Star Wars Story, then no fear, I got you covered. Behold…a trailer. So, to recap: The Falcon is under Empire control? No indication of plot but uh, Solo wants to be a pilot? Chewbacca is there. Daenerys still has the fiercest outfits in the galaxy. If you sense my hesitancy about the latest Star Wars installment, you can bet your landspeeder that I’m hesitant. I’ve been hesitant since the news that former directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were leaving the film, because, historically speaking, films that change directors don’t always become hits and please audiences (must we mention The Brothers Grimm and Fantastic Four?). I’m a bit of a Star Wars junkie, and the trailer isn’t well put together (the editing…what’s up with that) nor compelling enough to make me psyched to see the film. My sense of obligation to the film comes only from the words “Star Wars”, and if the studio begins…

Originally posted on Just another millennial living with her parents: I feel as though this is a popular topic to discuss. The topic of confidence. I don’t speak to men, when it comes to matters of confidence – Ladies, I’m telling you – They have enough. Men, men, are so flipping confident these days. I tell you, I’ve never met a single male, anywhere, that hasn’t told me what to do. They tell me what I should be doing with my time. Of course, I shouldn’t be wasting so much time, worrying about my student loans – But I do. It’s all I can think about. I go hard, get what’s mine, take what’s mine. I work hard these days, and I must tell you, confess to you, ladies – My confidence is directly related to my money. These days, I feel a lot of pep in my step. I’ve bolstered up my student loan payments, and I feel good. Actually, I feel great. I’ve traded in my butter knife for a tomahawk, and I’m…

You know when your dear old 92 year old grandad has had fourteen heart attacks, but you keep resuscitating him because of your own selfish need to keep him half alive? That’s what keeps happening to the most beloved media of my childhood. I can’t remember what came first. Was it Twin Peaks 2017? Star Wars 7, 8, 9? Gilmore Girls on Netflix? Whatever it was, the most recent crime was Cruel Intentions, and by that point my eyes had rolled clean out of my head. I was once excited. I once thought that bringing something I had once loved back to life, albeit in a zombie state, was a positive thing. “Two members of the original cast are coming back? Wow! It must be good!” I cried. But now…it’s hard to be hopeful. The cynic in me knows that the only reason for the sudden resurgence of things I loved that should have died in the mid-2000s are these: a) Money b) Lack of originality c) Security – to make even more money Hollywood, TV,…

Originally posted on The Renegade Press: ‘The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care.’ – Hugh Macleod If you were forced to make a choice between living a life of boredom, or one of loneliness, what would your decision be? Would you choose a stifled existence of mundanity in which you are forced to conform to the whims and needs of the masses? Or would you be comfortable in a life of isolation? Could you find comfort in the knowledge that you will forever be without inspiration, surrounded only by the mediocre and the monotonous? Or would prefer a life of seclusion and segregation? The truth is that you wouldn’t wish to be afflicted by either. If I pushed you into a corner and forced you to make a choice, you would probably shove me back and call me insane. Why would anyone want to make such a ridiculous decision? No matter what avenue you pursued, you would be…

Originally posted on Ice the Burn: Here’s what I knew before watching: Brie Larson is getting rave reviews, the young boy Jacob Tremblay gave an adorable acceptance speech at the Critic’s Choice Awards show. I knew the premise of the film and expected an emotional roller coaster. It’s so much more than that! It’s not a simple “let’s decide to escape this life and live happily ever after.” It’s a process as are the consequences that follow. Here’s how I see it and why I want others to as well. Check it out: ? A young mother and her now-five-year-old son have been living in a small shed they call “Room.” Joy, the mother, was imprisoned seven years prior, while her son, Jack, has no idea that there is a world beyond Room. But now that he’s old enough, Joy reveals the truth. Initially in disbelief and outrage towards what she tells him about everything he thought he knew, Jack comes around to help them both escape from their captor, a man they call Old Nick.…

Originally posted on Chiradox |ˈkīrəˌdäks |: Okay, so here’s the thing; there are some people who just look angry in every day life. ?Yes, it’s true; when in a neutral mood?these survivors of resting bitch face exhibit what might be mistaken as a festering?rage. ?I’m sure everyone knows this though. ?These people are constantly having to explain that they’re “alright” and that “really, nothings wrong,” which is why society took it upon itself to create a quick explanation for their condemnation?so that they don’t have to go through the wingding of a long drawn out answer to why they’re wearing the face that they were born with. And all that’s great and good. But then something went wrong. Suddenly it became cool to have Resting Bitch Face Disorder. ?Suddenly, everyone wanted to have a resting bitch face that they could wear around like disposable 3D glasses with the lenses popped out – as a style. ?And we all just sat back, silently idle, letting it happen. So now, you come across people who…